Panic
by MusicMeansEverything
Summary: Can Tom get to the bottom of a young girl's panic attacks?
1. Chapter 1

"Are you nervous?" Alice asked her best friend Maria.

"Of course I am. Not only are we about to do a GCSE but it's a maths one. I'm never going to pass."

"I bet you will. Have you revised?"

"With a dad like mine it's hard not to. It feels like that's all I've been doing!"

"Has he been forcing you to do loads of work?"

"He only wants the best for me."

"From this moment you cannot talk," said one of the teachers.

Alice and Maria looked at one another and mouthed 'good luck'.

"Good luck everyone," the teacher continued. He began to read out everyone's names and they walked in a line to the sports hall, where they were sitting the exam.

When everyone had sat down Maria began to panic. She was breathing really quickly and her chest felt tight. She could hear her heart pounding in her ears and she felt sweaty. One of the invigilators was looking round the hall, to check that no one was talking, when she saw how awful Maria looked. She walked over to her and asked in a low whisper, "are you ok love? You look very pale."

"No, I can't breathe properly," gasped Maria.

"Ok, let's get you out of here," the woman said, helping Maria to stand.

She staggered out of the room, the woman trying to support her, while the rest of her year stared. Alice could barely contain how worried she was. The invigilator half dragged Maria up to the main reception and sat her down on a chair. She spotted a teacher and called him over.

"Mr Sykes! I could do with a bit of help here!"

He saw Maria and ran over. "What's happened?"

"I think she's having some sort of panic attack. We're going to need an ambulance!"

The teacher grabbed his phone from his pocket and quickly dialled 999.

"No," Maria wheezed. "Exam...can't...miss...exam."

"You're in no fit state to sit an exam," the invigilator soothed. "Don't worry."

"The ambulance should be here soon." He knelt down in front of Maria. "Now, try and take some deep breaths."

Maria nodded. She could hear sirens in the distance. By the relieved look on the teacher's face, so could he.

Outside the school Jeff and Dixie jumoed out of the ambulance.

"How old did they say the girl was?" Jeff asked, as they made their way to the school entrance.

"Sixteen," Dixie replied.

"Bit young to be having a panic attack isn't she?"

"GCSE time of year," said Dixie, remembering how nervous her GCSEs had made her, but not to this extent.

When they got into the school they saw Maria straight away. She was crying and taking quick, short breaths. Her teacher was trying to comfort her.

"Hi, we're the paramedics," said Jeff. He felt stupid everytime he said thay. Who else would they be?

The invigilator looked up. "Thank God you're here."

"What's your name love?" Dixie asked Maria. She tried to answer but she couldn't catch her breath for long enough.

"Her name's Maria," Mr Sykes replied.

"Do you think you're having a panic attack princess?" Jeff asked.

Maria nodded. They got Maria into a wheelchair and wheeled her to the ambulance. Mr Sykes followed and said he would come with her. They put her on the trolley, gave her an oxygen mask and started to drive to the hospital.

When they arrived the panic attack had practically subsided but as Jeff had already explained, 'better to be safe than sorry.' Dixie and Jeff wheeled Maria into the ED. Zoe and Tom both went to make their way over to her.

"You can have this one," Zoe said. "With you being a pediatric trauma specialist and all."

Tom smiled cheekily and laughed. "Thanks Zoe." He walked over to the trolley and helped push it through the ED. "So, what have we got?" 


	2. Chapter 2

When Jeff had explained what had happened and what sort of condition Maria was in, he and Dixie left.

"Sorry about this but who are you?" Tom asked Maria's teacher who was standing nervously in the corner of the room.

"Oh, sorry, I'm Andy, Maria's teacher."

Tom nodded. "Ok. I'm Doctor Kent and I'll be looking after you today," Tom said to Maria. "From what I can see you're a lot better now anyway but we just need to check."

"Ok," said Maria.

"Have her parents or gaurdians been told?" Tom asked Andy.

"Erm, they were trying to get hold of her father when the paramedics arrived."

Tom nodded. "Ok." He turned to Maria. "Well, hopefully your dad will be here soon," he told her in a reassuring voice.

Just then Scarlett poked her head around the door. "Tom, could I have a quick word please?" she asked.

"I'll be back in two minutes," Tom told Maria and Andy as he left the room.

"Sorry to drag you out of there like that but there's something I thought you might want to see."

"Ok, I'm curious now," Tom said as he followed Scarlett to a computer. She loaded up Maria's notes and pointed at the screen.

"I was looking through her notes to see if I could find a different number for her dad and I stumbled across this."

Tom read the screen and looked at Scarlett. "She's been in A+E three times in the last four months for panic attacks?"

"That's what I thought. Do you think there's something going on?"

"I'm going to try and find out. Thanks for that Scarlett."

"No problem." 


	3. Chapter 3

Tom walked back in to Maria and smiled. "Andy, would you mind if I just had a word with Maria?"

The teacher shook his head. "No, that's fine." He got up and left the room.

"Right, Maria, I've been looking through your notes and I couldn't help but notice that you've been in hospital a lot reccently."

Maria nodded and tried to avoid catching eye contact with Tom.

"Am I right in thinking that this is because you've had some other panic attacks?"

Maria nodded again.

"Do you know why you have panic attacks so often?"

"I just get worked up over nothing."

"So you have panic attacks over nothing?" Tom asked doubtfully.

"Well, it's normally before something big."

"Like what?"

"Well, my last one was before a big dance competition."

"So you dance?"

"Yeah, I do Irish dancing. My mum used to dance and now I do."

"Do you enjoy it?" Tom asked. He could sense where this was going, he just needed to find out a little more about it.

"Yeah, I love it. My mum and dad like me to do it as well."

"Do you practise a lot then?"

"Every night for at least an hour. Two hours or more a night if there's a competition coming up like there is at the minute."

"An important one?"

"World championships."

"Really?" Tom asked.

"Yeah," Maria replied, shrugging her shoulders as if it was nothing.

"You must be good then?"

"I don't know. When can I go home?"

"Most likely when your dad gets here."

"Oh, ok."

"What caused your attack today?" Tom asked. He was determined to find out why Maria was in hospital so much.

"I had an exam."

"A GCSE?"

"Yeah, and I revised so much and my dad's going to go mental," Maria said, as her breathing quickened and the familiar tight chested feeling set in. She began to gasp for breath.

"Maria, what's wrong?" Tom asked urgently.

"It's-it's happening again!" 


	4. Chapter 4

"Right, Maria, it's ok. Just take some big deep breaths for me," Tom said as calmly as he could. He gave her an oxygen mask and started to rub her back, trying to calm her down.

Maria nodded and her breathing gradually began to improve.

"You ok now?" Tom asked.

"Yeah, I think so," Maria answered shakily.

"What it is about your dad that scares you so much?" Tom asked, looking Maria straight in the eye.

"What do you mean?"

"Does he push you a lot? Is that it?"

"How can you tell?" Maria asked quietly.

"My dad used to do it too. I used to swim, I was ready for the Olympics. But it was more my dad's dream than mine, so one day before a big race, I dropped a dumbell on my foot so I couldn't swim. It's not one of the cleverest things I've ever done though, and I certainly don't want you to do anything so stupid."

"He just makes me work so hard, I never have any time to do anything I want to d. And my mum just sits there and watches and lets him boss me around!"

"You're going to have to tell himthis when he comes," Tom warned her, hoping she'd be able to manage it.

"I know," Maria sighed. "It's just so hard."

"Is that why you're in hospital so much?" Tom asked.

"Yeah. He makes me so stressed. I never feel good enough to be his daughter."

"I'm sure that's not true."

Maria shrugged her shoulders and Scarlett appeared again. "Maria's dad's arrived," she said.

"Ok, thanks Scarlett," said Tom smiling.

Maria's dad entered the cubicle and Tom explained what had happened. Her dad was being kind and caring and Tom thought he didn't actually seem that pushy. Tom excused himself and left. He hovered outside the cubicle for a second and heard Maria's dad hiss, "what the hell happened? That was an important exam!"

Tom waited for Maria's reply.

"It's not my fault."

"You've bloody missed your exam! What are you going to do now?"

"Dad, can you just stop being so pushy!"

"Don't talk to me like that!"

At that moment Andy reappeared. Maria's dad stormed out of the cubicle and immediately tried to look calm when he saw him.

"Ah, just the man I was hoping to see. Thank you so much for coming with Maria."

"It's ok. How is she?"

"She's not too bad. Doctor, when will she be allowed to come home?" the father suddenly asked Tom.

"Well, we want to keep her in overnight for observation as she has had two attacks, but most likely tomorrow." Tom then left the teacher and dad alone together.

"Actually I was just wondering if I could speak to you. When willMaria be able to resit her exam?" her dad asked Andy. 


	5. Chapter 5

It had been a few hours and Maria had been moved onto a ward. Her best friend Alice had come to visit.

"Can you go home tomorrow then?"

"Yeah, I can't wait."

"Where's your dad?"

"He went home. He's really disappointed in me."

"Really?"

"Yeah. How did the exam go?"

"Crap. I was really worried about you and I didn't understand half the questions anyway."

"Sorry," said Maria, looking embaressed.

"Don't be. I'd have done rubbish anyway. Was that your doctor who was here when I got here?"

"He treated me when I was in A+E. Why?"

"Well, he takes being fit to a whole new level!"

Maria laughed and agreed. In a strange way she liked being in hospital. This was the first night off she'd had in years. 


	6. Chapter 6

3 weeks later

"Tom come here quick!" Meg shouted from the living room.

"What is it?" Tom asked appearing in the doorway.

"This girl's won the Irish Dancing world championships and I'm sure I know her face."

Tom looked at the television. "It's Maria! She was in the ED not that long ago. Turn it up.

She was being interviewed and thanking people who'd supported her. "I'd like to thank my mum and dad, my teacher, my best friend Alice for understanding me not being able to go out with her, and someone who probably won't even remember me. I'd like to thank Tom Kent and tell him that some people never change." 


End file.
